Casino Royale

06Dec06

Hmmm…interesting movie. For one, I heard a lot about it before actually watching it but still didn’t expect much. Face it, how real can you make a British Secret agent look, when it’s a known fact that the boys from Langley can kick MI6 ass anyday?

However, the movie is a revelation of sorts. Casino Royale is to the Bond franchise what Batman Begins was to the previously stinky Batman movies!

Now, I’m one of those few who liked Brosnan as Bond and I didn’t really mind the cheesiness in the last 3 movies (except for Halle Berry! Aaaaargh!). So the whole idea of rebooting the franchise to make it more ‘real’ was lost on me. But this is THE Bond movie to see!

Story follows the same old plot wherein you have a rich poker playing banker financing terrorism. Mads Mikkelsen plays Le Chiffre par excellence. You really feel the anger. Add to the equation, the stunning Vesper Lynd (played by the gorgeous Eva Green) and you have a fascinating Bond babe who actually has something to do with the plot (for once) and is of consequence.

This is Bond’s first mission and so he’s what M (Judi Dench) calls a ‘blunt instrument’ and by the end of the movie he has transformed into the sharp, ruthless and flamboyant assassin we all know.

The movie is extra violent (with an excruciating torture scene), has smart one liners, has an amaaaaaazing free running chase sequence at the start and of course, beautiful women!

However there are people who will definetly be disappointed and these are the ones who have grown too attached to Brosnan. Daniel Craig is spot on as bond…but he isn’t as suave as played by Brosnan. Watch Layer Cake (a fantastic but underrated British gangster flick) and you’ll know why he was chosen to be James Bond!

All in all, I give it 7.5/10. Good stuff!

M: This may be too much for a blunt instrument to understand. Any thug can kill. I need you to take your ego out of the equation.James Bond: So you want me to be half-monk, half-hitman.M: I knew it was too early to promote you.James Bond: Well, I understand double-ohs have a very short life expectancy. So your mistake will be short-lived.

“when it’s a known fact that the boys from Langley can kick MI6 ass anyday?”

When/where was this proven? Sorry, I am not trying to be sarcastic, but I wonder who you’re quoting when you say its been proven. The chief of the boys from Langley is the one responsible for saying -“we have slam dunk evidence that Saddam has WMD” not to mention other multiple erroneous reports like attack on a Biological weapons factory which doubled as a normal pharma factory. Not to mention the umpteen moles who went undetected for so long.

As far as Intelligence organizations go, the less you hear about the organization, the better they are.

“Casino Royale is to the Bond franchise what Batman Begins was to the previously stinky Batman movies.”…..ok that hurts 😮 you could have put”……previoulsy stinky (even though thats not true…except for Batman n Robin) movies,except for Batman Returns.” 😐

@ PS: Thanks for changing the theme again m8 Seriously!! Trying to find out what the hell I was typing was screwing my eyesight and giving me a headache :-P!

@ opinionated indian: Dude, I agree with your logic, the less you know about an intelligence organization, the better it is :-)! That’s why the actual Intelligence Organizations in the world are – Mossad, Interpol yada yada. :-P!

However, what I feel is that Langley has now become the “face” of American Intelligence, but there are a lot more organizations, which people are yet to discover even within the American Intelligence Community. The CIA has now become the posterboy!! Yes, I agree they brought it on themselves ;-)!